Orchestral Conducting in Virtual Reality
Name
kim-nkim8-meng-eecs-2023-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
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677.64 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
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0e04ff76add4ec408e432b714be83836
Author(s)
Kim, Nathaniel
Advisor(s)
Egozy, Eran
Date Issued
June 2023
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Orchestral conducting is a complex task, and learning to conduct well requires thorough practice. However, live training with a real orchestra is difficult to obtain, especially for beginners. To bridge this gap, we built the Virtual Reality Conducting system (VRC), a virtual reality system in which a user conducts a simulated orchestra.
VRC detects the user’s hand movements and algorithmically infers fundamental conducting gestures, such as timekeeping and accent signaling, with the use of carefully fine-tuned parameters. In turn, VRC adjusts the orchestra’s produced sound, modeling a real-life orchestra’s response as best as possible. VRC is designed to encourage good conducting habits, especially as instructed by pedagogy for beginners.
Trials demonstrate that VRC is effective in providing beginners with helpful, practical training in real-life conducting. Still, VRC has potential areas for improvement, especially in enabling users to realistically slow down the orchestra. VRC also illuminates interesting phenomena, especially regarding gestures and detection, that vary across pieces of different speeds and styles.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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